Thursday 1.08

RaleighRock the Ball and other inaugural musicLincoln Theatre and other venues—Bev Perdue will be sworn in as North Carolina's first female governor Saturday, Jan. 10. But before she takes her oath, her supporters will get the chance to party four times with diverse bills of Tar Heel entertainers: During a Council of State reception Thursday at Raleigh's new Marriott, dance band Café Mars plays, as the people with $125 to spare mingle. The real partying starts at 9 p.m. Thursday at Lincoln Theatre, though, as the polished Raleigh pop of Pico Vs. Island Trees meets one of the sound's Southern progenitors, Dillon Fence, for the first Rock the Ball bash. After a short reunion earlier this decade, Dillon Fence rarely plays, but the essential Chapel Hill band's early '90s jangly bliss still fits like a pair of well-worn jeans. Frontman Greg Humphreys maintains his remarkably welcoming pop air, too. At $20, you can afford this party—and should.

Eric Church, a rising Nashville hitmaker born in North Carolina, joins Durham resident and jazz and classical star Branford Marsalis on Friday at the Raleigh Convention Center for the gala presentation, followed immediately by the inaugural ball with Tres Chicas and Chatham County Line. Tickets for both are $200, and proceeds from all four events go to their host, the long-standing, long-serving Junior League of Raleigh. For more information, see www.ncgovernorsball.org. —Grayson Currin